October - November 2018 (Issue 120)

OYO, is India’s largest hospitality company, as well as the world’s fastest-growing chain of hotels, homes and living spaces spread throughout more than 500 cities. With 13,000-plus hotels and 3,000 homes in its chain, the brand is unique for having pioneered the world’s first full-stack technology-led hospitality model. One of its divisions is a home management service company that utilizes the chain’s existing on-ground operations to deliver a solution to second home-owners. It focuses on locked and unused homes across top holiday destinations in the countries it operates.

Its UAE operation is comprised of 40 homes strategically-spread throughout Dubai with an additional 160 homes intended to be added to its roster in the next six months and future plans to expand to other emirates in the near future. Highlighting the service’s benefits, Manu Midha, head of Middle East operations said, “We are focused on solving the problem of lack of quality and the supply-demand imbalance in the hospitality sector.” This is especially important he continued since, “Homeowners are unable to put their assets to personal or commercial use due to lack of time or expertise in homestay-management. We saw this as an untapped opportunity… to suit the needs of young global travelers, hospitality-operations, revenue management and distribution network – both online and offline, through both OYO’s own and partner channels.” This service has proven so popular that since launch, back in October 2018, it has hosted over 100,000 guests from 75 countries across 16 properties in the UAE.